I'm Elizabeth Lattery and I'm Tiffany Bates and welcome to SCOTUS 101 where we break down what's happening at the Supreme Court, what the justices are up to, and other things related to our favorite branch of government.

This week we're talking about the court's recent opinions and denials, a scurrilous attack on Justice Clarence Thomas and we'll interview Albert Lynn, the former Solicitor General of West Virginia.

So what's happening at SCOTUS this week?

Well, the justices are back.

They're hearing oral arguments this week and issuing a few opinions and some orders.

So there wasn't any action on a few cases we've been watching with interest, including

Garco Construction, which is a challenge to our or seminal rock deference.

Also, no action on the DACA immigration case.

But there were a few opinions and at least one noteworthy denial that we wanted to mention.

Yeah, so one interesting opinion this week in Class versus United States, the court held that the defendant in this case did not waive his right to challenge the constitutionality of the statute under which he had pled guilty.

So this guy, Mr. Class, was charged with possessing firearms that were locked in his Jeep that he parked on the U.S. Capitol grounds,

which is such a dumb idea.

There's cops everywhere.

Anyways, he pled guilty and he waived his right to appeal certain claims,

but he reserved the right to appeal some other claims,

but nothing was said about his right to contest the statute was unconstitutional on

appeal. So today, the court said that a guilty plea on its own doesn't waive the very power

of the state to prosecute him. So the court also decided Digital Realty Trust versus Summers.

This is a case dealing with whistleblowers who report violations of the securities laws.

So this was stemming from the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, I believe.

So there's an anti-retaliation provision.

But it only covers whistleblowers who report violations to the SEC.

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